Will FTC’s ‘Do Not Track’ Go Even Further than Expected?

For those who feel that the Federal Trade Commission’s “Do Not Track” legislation doesn’t go far enough, there’s reason to be cheerful: US House Representative Cliff Stearns (R-Fl) wants to resurrect his 2005 Consumer Privacy Protection Act to ensure that internet users would be able to see what information has already been collected about them.

Stearns plans to introduce a new bill based on his 2005 CPRA, which asked companies to notify users not only when their information was being collected, but also provide details about how said information would be used and also explain how users to prevent or limit the data collection. According to Stearns, “The goal of the legislation is to empower consumers to make their own privacy choices. My draft legislation requires covered entities to provide consumers in clear and easy to understand language what information is being collected and how the information is being used.”

The new bill will apparently “go hand-in-hand” with the existing FTC “Do Not Track” legislation. Here’s hoping that it makes it to the House and the Senate this time around, as opposed to its unvoted fate six years ago.